


I Feel Safe Here With You

by memoriesaremine, shipsthatcouldshowyouthestars



Category: Black Friday - Team StarKid, The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals - Team StarKid
Genre: Children of Characters, F/M, First Kiss, Fluff, Found Family, Homecoming, Implied making out, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Lifeguards, Minor Noel/Elsabeth, NB Charlie, Synchronized Swimming - Freeform, liv and i love our ocs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-11
Updated: 2020-11-11
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:02:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27507298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/memoriesaremine/pseuds/memoriesaremine, https://archiveofourown.org/users/shipsthatcouldshowyouthestars/pseuds/shipsthatcouldshowyouthestars
Summary: Noah Monroe doesn't know what home feels like. But Ophelia Matthews-Perkins is pretty damn close to what it's supposed to be.
Relationships: Original Male Character/Original Female Character, Paul Matthews/Emma Perkins
Comments: 10
Kudos: 9





	1. First Meeting

**Author's Note:**

> liv and i? actually having a short fic written and completed? wowie!
> 
> welcome to OC extravaganza!

Noah’s first week working as a lifeguard at the Sycamore High pool was an interesting one, to say the least. He worked most days, just lap swims and the school’s swim team shift once, but it was nothing special. The Sunday night he worked, though, was a synchronized swimming team. He didn’t know about that one.

He arrived at work and clocked in as usual, settling into his lifeguard chair to watch the practice. He pulled the tube into his lap and sat back. He was a little tired so he stopped at a coffee shop to get some coffee. He sipped it slowly as he watched the swimmers trickle in. One in particular caught his eye, and he wasn’t quite sure the reason. 

She was about his age, definitely taller than him, with pink-lemonade colored hair and pretty blue eyes. She wore a black swimsuit, nothing special, but it did look nice on her. She was holding the hand of a blonde little girl, no more than seven years old, who looked very interested in all of the bottles of dangerous chemicals lying around. She walked right up to Noah.

“Oh, you’re not Louie,” She said bluntly. “Anyway, hi, I’m Ophelia. This is Lilly. I kinda get stuck babysitting her during this so don’t be concerned if she tries to go grab the testing chemicals.”

“Um…” Noah swallowed. “Okay. I’m, um, I’m Noah.” He glanced down at the little girl. “Please don’t grab the chemicals, okay? They can hurt you.”

“Okay,” the little girl said. She didn’t seem to be paying any attention whatsoever. “Lia, can we get McDonald’s after?” She pulled on Ophelia’s hand. 

“Maybe, if you’re good,” Ophelia said. “Plus, didn’t Mommy give you dinner when she got home from work?” 

“Yeah, but she gave me yucky green beans.” Lilly whined. “Beans an’ that yucky stuff.”

“Lilly. You had fish. You like fish.”

“But I want nuggets,” Lilly complained. 

“If you’re good and don’t go play with the chemicals, maybe we can go to McDonald’s when my daddy picks us up, okay?” Ophelia sighed, looking in her bag and handing her a coloring book and box of markers. “Here. Go sit down and color, okay? If Coach Gwen needs your help, she’ll come get you.”

“Okay,” Lilly said, nodding. She sat down on the bench and began to color. Ophelia quickly smiled at Noah and he felt his heart flip-flop.

“Thanks for watching her,” she said. “She won’t cause you any trouble. Honestly. She might want to, like, watch when you do the tests. She’s obsessed with them for some reason. She loves science.” 

“I don’t mind that,” Noah promised. “I’ll keep an eye on her.” He smiled and Ophelia gave him a thumbs-up before walking over to the bench to finish getting ready. Noah swore she had arm muscles.

He got back up on his chair, keeping half an eye on Lilly in case she got interested in dangerous chemicals. When it came time to run a test, though, he invited her to help him.

“Wanna help me run a couple tests?” He asked as he picked up the box. “If you promise to be careful.”

“Yeah!” Lilly smiled. “I’ll be careful, promise.” 

“Good,” Noah said. “Come on, then.” He waved her over to the poolside so he could run the test. She giggled and sat down next to him as he showed her how he ran the three tests he did.’Lilly watched with interest and asked some questions even he didn’t know the answers to. 

At the end of the practice, Ophelia hopped out after Noah screwed the last laneline in. She pulled her swim cap off her head and let her damp hair fall out around her shoulders, the lemonade pink darkened by the water. 

“Thanks for watching Lil,” Ophelia said to Noah with a smile. “She seemed to have a lot of fun.” 

“Of course,” Noah smiled down at the little girl who had immediately come over to Ophelia. “She was very good. She should have some chicken nuggets, if I’m making the decision here.”

“Yay!” Lilly abruptly wrapped her arms around his waist, giggling. Noah jumped a bit before relaxing and patting the top of her head. “You’re my favorite!” She turned to Ophelia triumphantly. “See, Noah says I should get chicken!” 

“We’ll see what my daddy says,” Ophelia said. “Come on, Lilly Bean.”

“Okay,” Lilly said. She waved at Noah as she took Ophelia’s hand. “Bye bye, Noah!” 

“Bye, Lilly,” He waved.  
Noah offered to guard the synchronized swim meet. He didn’t think he would, but then he remembered Ophelia and he was 100% up for it. Plus, it got him out of the house. They’d called him the night before, because the other lifeguard was sick. He hadn’t seen Ophelia in almost a week, and strangely, he missed her and Lilly. Lilly was getting better at recognizing the bottles with the tests. 

She immediately ran over to Noah and gave him the first bottle he needed as he checked the pool. 

“Hey, Lilly, thanks,” He took the red-capped bottle. “Can you grab me the cap for the test tube?”

“Uh-huh,” Lilly said, smiling and running off to get the cap. Noah smiled after her as he spotted Ophelia out of the corner of his eye. She had blueberry blue hair now and she was standing with a woman with long, wavy hair, who looked a bit frantic. She was looking around the pool area, and Ophelia was talking to her, gesturing with her hands. 

Lilly ran back to Noah with the cap and Noah took it from her. 

“Lilly Bean,” Ophelia caught her arm. “Mommy’s looking everywhere for you. Come on, let’s go see Mommy.”

“But I wanna help Noah!” Lilly complained. 

“Sorry, kiddo, you should go see your mom,” Noah said, shaking the test tube with the cap on it. “I can do the tests all on my own.”

“Aww,” Lilly complained, crossing her arms. “Do I have to?” 

“Yes,” Ophelia and Noah said together. 

“Noah will be here all day,” Ophelia said, pulling Lilly towards her mother, who had started coming over when she saw Lilly and Ophelia. 

“Lilly,” she scolded when Lilly reached her. “You can’t run off on me like that.” 

“Sorry, Mama,” Lilly said sheepishly. “I just wanted to see Noah.” 

“Who’s Noah?” 

“The lifeguard she’s obsessed with.” Ophelia explained. “The one that lets her run the tests, remember?”

“Oh,” she said, nodding and letting out a breath. “Right. Gotchya.” Elsabeth placed a hand on Lilly’s head. “Lilly, hon, go sit with Mama, alright?”

“Can I help Noah with the tests?” Lilly said. “Please, Mama?” 

“No,” Elsabeth shook her head. “You can see him after. Stay with us for now.” She scooped her up. “Good luck, Lia.” She kissed Ophelia’s forehead. “You’re gonna kill it. Ellie and I are so proud.”

“Thanks, Auntie Elsie.” Ophelia smiled at Elsabeth’s praise and hugged her tightly. “I’ll see you guys after.” 

“Yep, we’ll go to the 99 for dinner too, alright?”

“Yes!” Ophelia smiled. “Thanks, Auntie Elsie. Love you. See you guys later.” 

“See you later,” Elsabeth smiled before walking away with Lilly, who was pouting. Ophelia spotted Noah in the crowd and walked over to him, casually tossing her towel over her shoulder. 

“Hey,” she said casually when she reached Noah. 

“Hey,” He said, putting the chemicals back. “Sorry about that. I didn’t mean to get Lilly in trouble.” 

“Don’t worry about it,” Ophelia said. “It’s not your fault. And Auntie Elsie doesn't’ stay mad for very long.” She laughed a bit. “She just doesn’t like letting Lilly stay away for too long.”

“Fair enough,” Noah said. “I probably wouldn’t either.” 

“Yeah.” Ophelia shrugged. She smiled at Noah, making his heart flutter a bit. “Think you can handle doing the tests without your buddy?” 

“Think so,” He grinned.

“Good.” Ophelia smiled. “She really does like you, you know.” 

“She’s a cool kid. Likes science,” Noah said. “I like her helping me with the tests. S’cute.” He put the bottles away. “You should go warm up.”

“I will,” Ophelia said. “I will, Mr. Lifeguard.” She mockingly saluted him and laughed.

“Good,” Noah said. “You have my full permission to keep calling me ‘Mr. Lifeguard.’” 

“Or, alternatively, Mr…” 

“Monroe.”

“Monroe?” Ophelia raised an eyebrow. “Monroe as in….” 

“Yeah.” Noah sighed. “It’s the one you’re thinking of.” He managed a smile.

“Oh,” Ophelia said. “Um….I don’t know whether or not it’s mean to apologize.” 

“It’s not mean,” Noah said, chuckling a bit. “But it’s okay. I’ve figured out how to live with it.”

A sort of awkward silence ensued between them after the revelation. The coach yelled something and Opehlia sighed.

“I think that’s my cue to get ready.” She smiled at Noah. “I’ll, um, I’ll see you later, yeah?” 

“Yeah,” Noah said. He gave her a little wave and managed to return her smile. “Good luck, Ophelia.” 

“Thanks,” Ophelia said softly. She smiled at Noah one more time before she turned and walked back towards her coach. He hopped back into his chair and sighed. He wished he didn’t have to tell Ophelia about his mother, but it came out. He hoped she didn’t think he was anything like her. 

The whistle blew and Noah perked up, sitting straight in his chair so he could watch the pool. He had to actually make sure these girls didn’t drown.

Ophelia wasn’t swimming at first, and Noah found it difficult to pay attention to anyone but her, fiddling with her blue raspberry hair as she started to tuck it underneath her swim cap. She wore a royal blue swimsuit that had silver lines and Noah thought it was a decent-looking suit. But that was just him. 

“Noah?” Lilly’s little voice came from below his chair. 

“Hey, kid, what’s up?” He bent down to look at her.

“I got bored,” Lilly said. “Can I come sit with you?” 

“Did you tell your mom you were coming?” 

“She said I could,” Lilly said. “Mama said so.”

“Okay,” Noah said, holding out his hand to help her up. “You can sit up in the big chair with me.”

“Yay!” Lilly grinned and crawled into Noah’s lap, wrapping her arms around his neck and holding onto him tightly to keep herself steady. He adjusted her so he still had his tube close and she was also steady.

He caught Ophelia’s eye and she smiled at him. She’d turned away from talking with her team to look at Noah and Lilly. Lilly waved wildly at her, smacking Noah in the face with her little hand and he laughed. 

“Sorry Noah!” She said. 

“It’s alright,” He laughed. “Don’t worry about it.” 

“Okay,” Lilly said as Ophelia waved back, laughing. She was stretching out. She was supposed to be listening to the directions her coach was giving, but she was looking over at Noah and Lilly with a smile on her face. 

“Ophelia,” her coach chided and Ophelia quickly looked away to finish her warm up. 

“Sorry.” She apologized and blushed. Lilly giggled and looked at where her moms were sitting.

“There’s my mommies,” She pointed, “And Lia’s Mommy and Daddy too.”

The dark haired woman that Noah had seen earlier was sitting beside another woman with long, wavy brown hair tucked underneath a beanie. Next to them sat a man with the exact same color hair and eyes as Ophelia. A woman with much curlier hair sat with that dark-haired woman, her hand on her leg. The wavy, dark-haired woman was keeping half an eye on Lilly, who was contentedly sitting in Noah’s lap. She seemed more relaxed now that she actually knew where her daughter was. 

“Lia’s getting in the pool!” Lilly announced. Noah turned back to watch her. That was his job, after all, to watch the swimmers. He shot Ophelia a quick thumbs-up when she glanced over at them when she dropped into the pool. 

Watching the routine, he knew he definitely had somehow fallen for Ophelia. The blueberry blue-haired girl who dressed like she was emo in 2007 but was an absolute sweetheart. Of course he’d fallen for her, who’d probably never so much as look his way if not for Lilly, and would never go for him, especially now that she knew he was a Monroe. He’d seen the disgust on her face when he’d told her his mother was Linda. 

THough, at school, she was kind enough to him that week. Homecoming was coming up, and he kept his hopes low. He’d thought about asking her a million times, but was always overcome with thoughts of her just laughing in his face and walking away. 

She pulled him aside one day and he nearly yelped at the surprise.

“You’re coming to Homecoming,” She said simply. “With me.” She was blunt, just like her mother, according to Lilly.

“Um…” Noah stammered. “Um. Yeah. Okay. Yeah.” He nodded. 

“Good,” Ophelia said as the bell rang for class. “See you later, Noah?” 

“See you later.”


	2. Neon Kisses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> homecoming, kisses, pizza, and pictures

A week and a half later, he found himself at Ophelia’s doorstep, awkwardly holding flowers for her. Linda had insisted that he get them. He was relieved when River dropped him off without a word.

To his surprise, Lilly was the one to open the door for him. 

“Hi, Noah!” She said brightly. She wore a Cinderella dress, the crown on top of her head. “Are you here for Lia? She said she had a boy-friend coming over!”   
  
“I did not say boyfriend! I said my friend is coming!” Ophelia called from somewhere upstairs.

“But Auntie Emma said you had a boy-friend!” Lilly yelled back, furrowing her brow. Shrugging, she turned back to Noah. “Anyway, do you wanna come in? We’ve got pizza!” 

“Sure,” Noah chuckled, trying to ignore how his heart soared at that. “Your dress is nice, Lilly.”

“She put it on to feel included,” A woman said as she rounded the corner. Her curly hair was thrown in a bun and she had glasses on. “And you must be Mr. Noah.”

“Yeah,” Noah said. “Hi, um, I’m Noah. Nice to meet you.” He quickly stuck out his hand and she shook it gently.

“I’m Noel.” Noel said softly, “Lilly’s mother.” She picked the little girl up. Lilly wrapped her arms around her mother’s neck and smiled at Noah. Her blonde hair and blue eyes hadn’t led Noah to the conclusion that the curly-haired woman was her mother. 

“We adopted her,” Noel explained. “Once Ella and I were out of college and settled, that is. We used to live in New York but moved back here once Lyanna hit college.” She smiled softly down at her daughter. 

“Oh,” Noah said. He couldn’t help but feel a little envious of Lilly for having such loving parents. He wasn’t sure his mother had  _ ever  _ looked at him like that.” 

“You look very nice.” She said with a smile. “Your tie is crooked. Let me fix it for you?” She offered. Noah didn’t like tying ties. 

“Sure,” Noah said. “Thank you, uh, ma’am.” 

“Oh, call me Noel,” Noel said, waving off his attempts at being polite. “Please. Unless you’re one of my students, I just think it’s too stuffy.” 

“Okay,” Noah said as Noel fixed his tie for him. She was gentle, not like Linda, who would’ve jerked him around. As she finished, Noah heard the sound of feet on the steps behind him and turned to see Ophelia. She wore a tight blue dress with her hair now a purple. A lavender color that brought out her eyes. 

“Hey,” she smiled softly at him. “You look nice, Noah.”

“Yeah, um, mhm,” Noah said, completely forgetting how to form a complete sentence. “Wow.” He laughed nervously, holding out the yellow flowers. “I know they don’t match, but…”

“I love them,” Ophelia said, taking the flowers and smiling at him, her eyes sparkling. “You didn’t have to bring me flowers, Noah.” 

“Thought it’d be nice to,” He smiled a bit. “That’s what I thought I was supposed to do. I don’t know.”

“No, no, it’s really nice, Noah,” Ophelia giggled. “Seriously. I love them. Thank you.” She handed them to Lilly to hold. “I see you met Auntie Ellie.”

“I did.” Noah smiled at Noel. “She, um, fixed my tie for me.” 

“He’s very polite, Lia,” She said with a laugh. “Surprised you picked him. You’re too much like your mother, you know that?”

“I don't see that as a bad thing.” Ophelia grinned. “You can tell her you said that, though.” She teased, “You’re like my dad, Auntie Ellie.”

“That’s not a bad thing, either,” Noel replied smoothly, glancing at the clock. “You guys had better get going. Don’t want to be late.” 

“Dad wants pictures,” Ophelia sighed. “He and Mom are coming home right now. Mom texted me a few minutes ago and said they were almost here.”

As if on cue, the sound of the door opening made them all turn as Ophelia’s parents came home. Lilly jumped out of Noel’s arms.

“Uncle Pa! Auntie Emmie!”

“Hi, honey,” Paul said with a soft smile. He kissed the top of Lilly’s head gently and scooped her up. “How was school today?”

“Good! We made hand turkeys!” She giggled, “And now Lia and her boy-friend are here!”

“That’s good,” Paul said with a smile. “And I can see he’s here.” He smiled at Noah. “Hi, nice to meet you. I’m Paul, Ophelia’s dad.” 

“Nice to meet you too,” Noah said. He shook his hand. Then, her mother came in, carrying pizza boxes.”   
  
“Oh, hi,” Emma said as she placed the boxes down on the counter. “‘M Emma.”

“Hi, Mrs. Matthews,” Noah said. “I’m, um, I’m Noah.” She shook his hand as well and eyed the flowers in Lilly’s hand.

“You didn;’t have to bring us flowers,” She said kindly, “But they’re very nice. Thank you. Do you want some pizza before you two go?”

“That’d be great.” Noah admitted. “Thank you, Mrs. Matthews.” 

“Auntie Ellie, where’s Auntie Elsie tonight?” Ophelia asked, handing a slice of pizza to Noah before taking one herself. She put them both on plates so they wouldn’t get them on their costumes. 

“At work,” Noel said softly. “She’s overnight in New York tonight. Gabe’s moving back into school now again. He tried living off-campus with his girlfriend but they broke up so Ella and Duke went out to help move him into a dorm.”

“Oh, Gabe and Annie broke up?” Ophelia complained. “Dammit, I liked her.” 

“Yeah, we’ll talk about it later.” Noel patted her arm. “But yeah, Elsie and Duke went up to help him out.” She smiled a bit. “For now, though, eat your dinner. I need to take Miss Lilly home to get ready for gymnastics. Good luck, have fun, you both look amazing, I love you.”

“Love you too, Auntie Ellie!” Ophelia said. “Bye, Lilly. Have fun at gymnastics, lovebug.” 

“Thanks, Lia,” Lilly said. “Bye, Noah. See you soon!” 

“Bye, kid,” He waved at her as she was carried out by Noel.

“Oh, bye, Dad!” Noel called back into the house, “I have to work tomorrow, can you and Em watch Lils?”

“Sure,” Paul said without looking up. “We’re around.” 

“Thank you!” She called before Noah heard a car start and pull away. Paul chuckled a bit as he took a beer from the fridge. Emma grinned and grabbed one for herself.

“Breaking out a beer already? It’s five, you know.”

“It’s after noon, I’m legally allowed to drink.” Emma grabbed her camera as she took a sip of her beer. “Okay, kids, we’ll go outside and take pictures so you guys can leave.” 

“Cool.” Ophelia popped the last bite of her pizza into her mouth. Charlie came jetting down the stairs.

“I wanna take them! Uncle Peter taught me all these cool tricks,” They grabbed the camera from Emma with a grin. 

“Go for it, kid,” Emma said, ruffling their hair. “This is great, because I wanna eat.” She gave Charlie a thumbs-up. 

Charlie grinned and waved Ophelia and Noah outside. Noah put his arm around her waist for pictures and her hand was on his chest. He was sure his red cheeks were very, very visible. 

“These are cute,” Charlie said as they snapped photos. Ophelia smiled up at Noah, gently fiddling with his collar. Noah couldn’t form a complete thought. She just smiled and traced his jaw with her finger, which made him blush even more. 

Charlie laughed. “Keep it down, guys.” They snapped one final picture before putting the camera down. “Okay, I think that’s enough to appease Dad. You can go now.” 

“Okay,” Ophelia grinned, holding his tie. “Noah, I’m driving. My keys are on the counter, wanna go grab them for me?”

“Of course,” Noah said. He was a little nervous about going inside to meet Paul’s eyes now that  _ those _ photos had just been taken. He cleared his throat and went inside. Charlie snickered.

“You really played him,” They teased. “He’s all red!”

“I didn’t do anything,” Ophelia protested. A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Charlie.” 

“Yes, you do,” Charlie showed her the photos. “He gets more and more flustered in every single one. I have to go through these before Dad can see or he will actually give himself a hernia.”

“Yes, please do,” Ophelia said, looking at some of the steamier ones. “Dad’ll never let me within a mile of him again.” 

“Mom would die laughing but Dad would be a little stressed. Like, c’mon, you see how tense he gets when Uncle E and Aunt Lex start flirting.” Charlie grinned. 

“Oh, I know,” Ophelia said as Noah returned with the keys. “He’s just like that.” She took them from him and Noah had to practically look away so he wouldn’t start blushing again. “Alright, Charlie, don’t burn the house down while we’re gone, alright? I want the house in one piece. Don’t let Mom give you any ideas.”

“I let Mom give me all my ideas.” Charlie grinned. “Have fun, guys. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” 

Ophelia flipped him off before getting in the Red mustang she drove. Noah got in and cleared his throat again as he buckled. 

“So, that’s some of my family,” She said. “Auntie Ellie and Lilly are here a lot.”

“Got it,” Noah said. “Ellie said that your dad was her dad too?” 

“Oh, okay,” Ophelia laughed a bit. “So Ellie’s not actually my sister or anything. She grew up with my dad always around. Her aunt worked with him, she lived with her, she moved in when she was, like, 17 or something with him.” She explained as she drove. “She started calling him Dad once she got to college.”

“Oh, okay,” Noah said. “Cool.” 

“Yeah, and then Elsie’s her wife, and that guy Duke she mentioned is Elsie’s adoptive dad,” She drummed her fingers on the steering wheel. “My family’s huge, but in the way that most of them aren’t actually related. Like, Aunt Lex? She stayed with my Grandpa Tom, who was married to my mom’s sister, like,  _ ages _ ago.” She explained as if it was nothing.

“Oh, cool.” Noah was completely lost as to what the family tree was, but it was so nice listening to Ophelia talk, that he didn’t care. That, and the fact that her family was a thousand times more interesting than his. 

“So Auntie Elsie is moving Aunt Ellie’s little cousin/brother, Gabe, back into Syracuse.” Ophelia said, “I guess he and Annie broke up. I liked her. She tried to give me those Truly seltzers once with my mom’s permission.”

“She sounds cool,” Noah said. “My mom would  _ never  _ let me get away with that.” 

“Yeah, my mom’s kinda chill, my dad’s hella uptight but since it’s Friday, he isn’t going to blow a gasket if he gets too wound up,” She explained. “Which means Charlie will be somewhere else. They’ll, like, disappear to go play Fortnite, or they go run the track tonight, I don’t know.”

“Cool,” Noah repeated. “My brother has soccer, I think.” He looked outside. The leaves were falling outside.

“Auntie Elsie was hyped to meet you, by the way.” Ophelia smiled over at him as she drove. “She was sad to miss tonight.” 

“It’s okay, I’m sure I’ll, um, meet her soon,” Noah said. “What she was doing sounds important.” 

“Yeah,” Ophelia saud. “You  _ will _ be meeting her soon.” She pulled into the parking lot, which was already packed with cars. Noah wanted to ask her what exactly the status of their relationship was, but wasn’t sure he could get up the courage. 

“Okay, we made it,” Ophelia said as she parked the car in a spot a bit away from other people. She turned to Noah and smiled. “Excited?” 

“Yeah,” Noah said. “I am. I’m really excited.” He smiled. Dances were something Linda didn’t like. She said they were stupid. With Ophelia, though, he didn’t think they were stupid at all.

“Good,” Ophelia said. She turned off the car and pushed open the driver’s side door. “Me too.” 

Once they were both walking towards the entrance, Ophelia took his hand. She had acrylics, but short ones, and Noah wasn’t scared of her hurting him. He didn’t think she could. He wasn’t sure she could ever hurt anyone, no matter how she dressed or how blunt she was. He hadn’t ever had that thought, especially when they first met because of Lilly. It was a nice feeling, holding her hand. His were a little clammy.

The theme of the dance was “The 1980s,” and the hall was absolutely decked out in neon. It hurt Noah’s eyes a little when they first walked in the hall, but Ophelia seemed absolutely delighted by it. 

Ophelia looked out of place, in jet-black heels and a tight dress, but on Noah’s arm, she didn’t care.

“Wow,” she said. “They did a good fucking job.” 

“It looks good,” He said finally. He’d been looking at the way the disco ball illuminated her lavender hair and made her eyes sparkle, which was better to him than any decoration the Dance Committee could dream up. Ophelia’s hand in his tightened as she whirled him around on the floor. 

“Dance, Monroe,” She teased, pulling him close, “Or do you have two left feet?”

“I-I’d love to dance,” Noah said, as he held Ophelia’s hand tightly, putting his other hand on her waist like he’d seen people do in movies. She smiled at him, their lips inches apart, and Noah’s heart nearly exploded. She had a gap between her front teeth that he’d never noticed and freckles across her nose. Her eyes twinkled in the dim light. 

“You’re a good dancer,” she said as he twirled her. 

“My mom taught me,” She said casually, “When we went to weddings and I wanted to dance wth everyone.” She casually glanced down at Noah’s lips. “You’re not a bad dancer yourself.” 

“I never learned,” He admitted. “My mom doesn’t like dances.”

“Your mom is stupid,” Ophelia said, rolling her eyes. “In my opinion.”

“Mine too,” Noah muttered. She touched his cheek gently and traced his jawline with her fingers.

“So, onto happier things,” Ophelia said. She glanced down at Noah’s lips again. “Are you gonna kiss me or do I have to do everything myself?” 

Noah actually made the first move, kissing her. At least he could manage to do that. Ophelia smiled into the kiss, lacing her fingers in Noah’s hair. He didn’t care about the hairspray and hair gel keeping his hair together. She could mess it up all she wanted. He’d never actually kissed anyone before. He was probably messing everything up, but hopefully Ophelia wouldn’t mind too much. 

She backed him into the hallway afterwards, where it was less crowded and less loud. She stared at him, grinning.

“You ever kissed someone, Monroe?”

“No,” Noah admitted, acutely aware of the fact that she had him backed up against the wall in the hallway. 

“That was good for a first kiss,” She giggled, twisting a lock of his hair. “I think we should dye this some day.” She let it fall back on his forehead. “How would you feel about brown or black?”

“Maybe,” Noah managed breathlessly. Truth be told, he’d let Ophelia do whatever she wanted if she kept looking at him like that. “Do you think….do you think I’d look good in black?” 

“I think you look good in whatever you feel good in.” Ophelia whispered.

“I feel good with you,” He blurted out. “I...I really like you, Ophelia.

“Well, that’s good,” Ophelia said. “I was hoping you’d say that, since, you know, you did just kiss me.” She leaned forward and kissed him again. “But I really, really like you too.” Her hand on his cheek and her other on his side was making him feel things.

  
“Good,” he said, almost breathlessly. “Um, can we…”   
  
“Got it,” Ophelia led him down the hall and they found themselves in the usually abandoned boys bathroom, except for them. She pulled Noah inside and Noah, once again, found himself up against a wall. It was not somewhere he minded being, especially when Ophelia crashed her lips into his. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> jhfskjhf i got impatient and posted both at the same time because, like, why not????
> 
> anyways, yeah, hope y'all enjoyed, pleas eleave comments !!! <3

**Author's Note:**

> hello ! please leave comments if you enjoyed it <33


End file.
